When St. Luke’s Hospital opened in Fountain Hill in the late 1800s, the most popular baby names in the nation for girls were Mary, Anne and Emma, according to SSA.gov (the website for the Social Security Administration). For boys, the website lists John, William and James as the most popular American names more than 120 years ago.
There is a ring of truth to the saying, “Everything old is new again,” particularly when it comes to baby names.
If you need proof of that, look no further than the names of the nearly 4,000 children who made their debuts at the St. Luke’s Hospital campuses in Allentown and Bethlehem this year. The top name choice for baby girls was Emma, and for boys it was Liam, which is actually a derivative of William. Here are the top 10 names (and ties) for each gender:
Boys
- Liam
- Jackson
- Oliver
- Ethan
- Benjamin, Leo, Mason (tie)
- Noah
- Jacob
- Lucas
- Logan
- Luke
Girls
- Emma
- Olivia
- Amelia
- Mia
- Ava, Charlotte (tie)
- Harper
- Luna
- Isabella
- Sophia, Riley (tie)
- Stella, Gabriella, Penelope (tie)
Nearly 150 years after the opening of St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus, the health network is putting finishing touches on its third birthing place, the Women & Babies Pavilion, which will open in just a few weeks at St. Luke’s Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township.
What names will the firstborn boy and girl at the new facility be given? Will 2020 see more Liams and Emmas, or will other names dominate the Top 10 lists? The odds are good that the names listed above will remain popular, however it’s hard to say for sure.
Ask most parents how they chose their child’s name and you’re likely to get a variety of answers, from honoring a family tradition or paying homage to a friend to their admiration for a particular athlete…or simply a desire to be different. Some choose a name before the delivery, while others wait for a special kind of inspiration afterwards.
Famed American self-improvement writer Dale Carnegie once said, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
So regardless of what 2020’s babies are named, it is safe to say that they will adopt a special meaning for their recipients, just as all names have throughout the ages.
Note: This local health-related news is brought to you in partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network.